The nonprofit Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) reportedly has established an equity fund to invest in microfinance institutions (MFIs) in an effort to facilitate access to commercial financing, with the ultimate goal of increasing growth and facilitating expansion into rural areas.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Pakistan’s central banking authority, has reportedly granted approval to Orascom, an international telecommunications company headquartered in Cairo, Egypt, to initiate a mobile microfinance banking service in Pakistan. Mobilink, a subsidiary of Orascom, serves about 31 million subscribers throughout Pakistan.

Data from India’s 39-member Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN) for the first five months of fiscal year 2011-2012 indicate a decline in the industry’s loan portfolio. “For the first time in the history of Indian microfinance, the industry is likely to witness negative growth this year.

Microfinance has been successful at bringing solar lighting to India’s rural villages, according to an article in Indian science and environment magazine Down To Earth. Solar home lighting systems often cost about INR 14,000 (about USD 280), a prohibitive price for most households living in areas with limited electricity.

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Andhra Pradesh, India, have started talks to recover outstanding loans amounting to INR 7,000 crore (approximately USD 1.4 billion), which they have been unable to collect since the repayment dropoff in the state started in 2010.

Bankers without Borders (BwB) Alliance, a volunteer initiative of the US-based nonprofit Grameen Foundation, recently announced that Microfinance Innovation Center for Resources and Alternatives (MICRA), a microfinance consulting and advisory firm in the Philippines, will become the fifth member of the alliance [1].

Ujjivan Financial Services, an Indian microfinance institution (MFI), reportedly plans to raise up to INR 6.2 billion (USD 138 million) from the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), a government-owned financial institution, along with other unspecified private and public-sector banks.

Indian microfinance institution (MFI) Bandhan Financial Services Private Limited recently raised INR 135 crore (the equivalent of USD 29 million) from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group [1]. The deal was arranged by Intellecap, an advisory firm with operations in India and Africa.